The sock stealer!
by NightBird1
Summary: Socks are disappearing, and someone needs to figure out who is stealing them.


Ron sat bolt upright in his bed. He looked around until he recognized his surroundings, after which he lay back down on the pillow and put his hand over his head. He had recently started having dreams that would wake him up in the middle of the night recently. There were two dreams that would wake him up. One which was as close to a nightmare as the two came, and the other one, well, the other one made him need to take a cold shower. He wasn't suppose to be the one waking up with nightmares, that was supposed to be Harry. He couldn't exactly ask Harry what to do about the dream. How could you tell your best friend that you wake up in a cold sweat because you dreamed he and your sister were going out? Well, if there was a good way of doing it, Ron didn't know it.  
  
As he lay down, he heard a floorboard creek, someone pausing, and then the door slowly opening and closing. "Probably one of the guys either going out to see some girl, or possibly, just going getting some food. I guess it could be some girl coming in to check on her guy." He let the thought drift off for a moment, but then blinked, got up and looked outside. Everything appeared normal, but the thought wouldn't go away. "No, Ginny wouldn't come here, it's just my imagination." He went back to bed and sleep soon followed.  
  
The following morning, Ron put his robe on, and shuffled through his belongings, looking for something. "Hey, Harry? Mind if I borrow some socks? I thought I had some clean ones, but apparently I don't."  
  
Harry looked up from one of his books, only partly dressed. "Yeah, sure let me get you some." He bent over his chest, pulled out his wand, said a short spell, and opened it up, grabbed a pair of socks for himself and one for Ron, which he tossed to his waiting friend. "There you go."  
  
"What was that you said before you opened your chest?" Ron asked as he put the borrowed socks that Harry had probably got from Dobby considering the markings.  
  
"Oh, it was a password that let me get into it. If you try to open it up and haven't said the password, you all of a sudden remember something you need to go do. It's kind of like the spell put on Hogwarts for muggles, but this does it for everyone." He put on his sock and his cloak, lacing it up.  
  
"Really? Why do you need something like that? I couldn't imagine why you would have one of those."  
  
Harry looked up at Ron, stood up and simply said, "You really want an invisibility cloak available to anyone? Besides, when I go home, I want some protection from prying eyes, and what better way to keep stuff safe then a spell that makes you think of something else to do instead of looking?"  
  
"Oh," was all Ron said as he thought. "You should teach me that spell, I have a few items I might want to keep others out of back home," Ron said with a smile. He opened the door, and went down stairs, with Harry following.  
  
Ginny stood just off to the side, but in such a way that she could see anyone coming out of the boy's dormitory without anyone thinking she was watching the door. Well, everyone knew she was watching, but they decided to let her think no one noticed, so they just kept on talking like normal. Her eyes lit up when she saw Harry, but quickly became more interested in the conversation she was having. All of the girls by her knew that that change in mood signaled him there, and decided that it was time to go eat. They knew Ginny would stay around for awhile without them, and they just left with her to face the boys alone. Well, not really alone, Hermione stayed with her.  
  
Harry and Ron came through the door, just to hear some of the other boys from their floor also needing to do laundry. Apparently everyone lost track of how many socks he had left, and no one seemed to have any clean ones. Harry decided it best not to ask what they were wearing, but just counted his lucky stars that he had just enough socks to last a couple weeks. His eyes scanned the people left, and located a group of girls leaving for breakfast, looked to where they probably had been, and saw Ginny and Hermione sitting there chatting a bit. He went over, and Ron followed after a brief pause. His dream stayed with him, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to control himself if anything happened.  
  
Hermione looked up and openly smiled at Harry, though her smile shifted a bit when it reached Ron. That was something else that had changed, she was friendlier than ever with Harry, but with Ron, something seemed to change. It was as if something were different about Ron and she was trying to decide if it was a good change or not. He smiled back at her, hoping his face didn't show too much emotion. Just seeing her sometimes brought back a sudden glimpse of a dream he had recently, and he might have to explain why he is blushing all of a sudden, which was never an easy thing to explain.  
The two girls stood up, Ginny on one side of Harry, and Hermione next to Ron, though not too close to really mean anything, at least in Ron's eyes. They left the room chatting about classes and assignments, and Hermione bugging Ron to get his essay done. "We only have two more months to work on it Ron! You should be half done already! How do you expect to write a five scroll essay intwo months?"  
  
He looked at her incredulously. "You've seen me write more in a day, this should be easy to do." Her frown made him stop short of continuing the conversation into what would have most likely been another argument. She had been doing that too him a lot more. They had been able to talk to each other better, but he still didn't care for it when she did it.  
  
They all went down to the Great Hall, and sat down, Harry and Ron sitting across from Ginny and Hermione, each talking to the others about what they were doing that day after classes were over, and what they would be doing the next day, which was a day off. Hermione suggested they all go to Hogsmeade and look at the shops for a bit. That sounded like a good idea to everyone, Ron was in favor of spending a day with Hermione. He might even get to talk to Hermione alone. Well, he doubted he would be able to say anything that what he wanted to, but he could always hope.  
  
The day went by slowly, filled with the normal worry, and dreaming of a certain person of the female sex for Ron. Ron was worried that Harry might had started to notice something different, but he didn't say anything. Now if only Harry hadn't been looking at his sister like that, Ron would feel much better about things.  
  
After classes were done, Ron went up stairs to sit next to the fire. He sat in one of the few remaining couches, with room enough for one other person next to him. Hermione came up next, and walked over to him, and asked if he would scoot over a bit. He obliged, and they were soon sitting next to one another. Harry came over and smiled at them, and sat down in front of them, with his back to them, not impolitely, but just because of a lack of any better place to sit. Ginny walked along and decided to sit next to Harry, not so close as to be anything else but friendly, but still to close together in Ron's eyes.  
  
Hermione must have seen him looking at Harry and Ginny, because she decided to get his attention by talking to him about the upcoming dance. Ron had wanted to ask her, but he was fairly sure she would say no. "There's only one way to find out," he thought to himself. He was working up his nerve, when Harry spoke up, "So, what are you guys planning on doing tomorrow?" he asked. Hermione just shrugged, and looked to Ron. He shrugged and asked if Harry had anything that he wanted to do. "Well," he swallowed as if not sure of what he was going to say, "I don't know, I was just wondering if you had anything planned."  
  
"Yes, I was planning on taking Hermione off to a corner and snogging her silly, if you hadn't just interrupted!" Ron thought as he gave Harry an evil glare. "I was just planning on looking around, and possibly stopping somewhere for something to eat."  
  
"Actually Ron, don't you have a paper to finish up?" Hermione asked with a smile in her eyes.  
  
Ron looked at her cautiously. "You mean the one that is due in 2 months? I don't need to start on that for at least another 2 months," he said as he tried to wave it off.   
  
Hermione sighed and looked at him. "Please?" she asked with puppy dog eyes. Ron had never seen her do this before. "I'm going to have to stay behind anyway, so are you sure you won't be joining me for the day? We would have the whole Tower to ourselves." This was definitely a side of Hermione Ron had never seen before.  
  
He blinked and shook his head yes, hoping he didn't look too happy. Ginny's eyes were searching Hermione, and Harry seemed lost in his thoughts. The only one that would have noticed was Hermione, and Ron wasn't sure if she would have been shocked or not. She smiled and hugged him, and said, "Thanks, I'm sure I'll appreciate the help." He knew something was amiss when she said that, but wrapped his arms around her to return the hug. She finally let go, but it took awhile longer before he let go of her. It felt too nice, and he didn't really want to, but he eventually did let go. She smiled. "So, what will you two be doing tomorrow?" she smiled at them.  
  
Ron's eyes got bigger. "Hey, wait a minute, Harry has that same paper, why doesn't he have to stay here and work on it?" Hermione looked at him and smiled. He all of a sudden remembered that if Harry stayed, they wouldn't have the Tower to themselves. Well, there would be the younger kids around, but he wasn't too worried about them. They were easy enough to take care of.  
  
Ginny smiled and said, "Oh, I don't know, I'm sure we will find something to do, won't we Harry?" Her smile was infectious. He smiled right back.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure we will find something to do." She blushed at his comment, though no one could see why. "Um, I think I'll go up to bed, Okay? Don't be up too late Ron," he added with a smile to his friend. Ron just glared at Harry, though Harry didn't notice because his back was already turned and he was heading back up to bed.  
  
"I think it's about time for me to go too," Ginny said, and walked off to her door.  
  
Ron was scared to look up to see what Hermione's face was showing. He felt her hand grab his, and give it a squeeze. "I'm going up to bed too, see you tomorrow. And be prepared to work on that paper."  
  
He nodded and watched her leave. He sat there for awhile, and started flexing his fingers after awhile. He looked at them, as if not sure she had really done that. He looked back where she had left; she was up to something. He was sure of it, but he wasn't sure if he would mind the outcome. At least for him. He got up and went up to his room. Harry was already asleep, they must have sat there longer then he thought they did. He lay down and waited for sleep to over take him.  
  
Later that night, he got up, and looked around. He went over and got some decent robes on. He needed to walk around a bit, and the common room was the best place most of the time.  
  
He went down stairs, and found Hermione sitting on the couch facing the fire. "You're up early," she commented. He looked at her blankly.  
  
"What do you mean early?" He looked outside and saw it was still dark. "Oh, I thought it was later than that." He blinked and rubbed the back of his head. "Why are you up so early?"  
  
"Oh, I was just thinking," Hermione said wistfully and gazed deeper into the fire, as if it held the answers to her questions.  
  
"This early in the morning? Don't you think enough during the day." He watched her reaction, and realized that he probably shouldn't be joking. "No, seriously, what are you thinking about?" He walked over to her and sat down next to her.  
  
She looked over at him. "Nothing and everything, all at once. It's so confusing."  
Ron studied her eyes, and put his hand on top of hers. "Anything I can do to help?" She looked back towards the fire, and slowly shook her head no.  
  
"Don't do anything more than you already have, if you try to make it better, it will only get worse." Ron wasn't sure how he should have reacted to her comment, but just shook his head yes. He looked at the fire, wondering what it could be, and started feeling sleepy.   
  
"I think I'm going to go up and sleep some more. See you in the morning. Oh, and get to bed soon too, don't want you to fall asleep we're working tomorrow," said Ron.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be going back up in a bit myself. See you tomorrow," said Hermione as she continued to stare into the fire.  
  
"Yeah, tomorrow," Ron faded off as he turned to go up stairs. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask." He walked off without waiting to hear her answer.  
  
"Ron, I," Hermione stopped as she noticed she was alone again. "Why do you have to be so complicated?" she sighed as she looked back into the fire. "Right, sleep does sound good." She stood up and went into her room and lay down, and went to sleep.  
  
Ron woke up the next day, went and looked through his stuff, but couldn't find any socks. He didn't know what to make of it. This was the second day he didn't have socks, and he was sure he had cleaned some yesterday. Shrugging, he went over to where Harry was getting ready, and got him to let him borrow some socks. It was too early to wonder where they were. He got changed, and went downstairs. He saw Ginny standing ready for Harry so they could head off. He looked around and saw Hermione hadn't come down. "She must have slept in a bit," he thought to himself.  
  
Ginny came over to him, and said, "Hermione slept in today for once, she'll be down in a bit." He nodded.  
  
Harry came down from the room, and looked around. Ginny walked towards him, trying not to look too excited. It didn't work. Harry looked up and saw her coming towards him and smiled at her. He pinched himself just to make sure he wasn't dreaming again. He wasn't. He walked over to the couch and sat down. He leaned back so he was looking at the ceiling. He heard Harry and Ginny leave, and waved them off, and continued to sit there. He had closed his eyes for awhile, when he noticed a shadow fall over him. He opened his eyes to see Hermione peering down at him. "Hello, ready to get studying?" she asked him.  
  
"Not till after breakfast." He heard the clock chime. "Err, wait, is it lunch already? You slept in till lunch?" he asked as he rose up. "That's a first, I'm sure." She looked down at him.  
  
"So you want to eat first, huh? Well then, lets go down and see if we can't find something to eat." They stood up and walked out of the common room. "Did Harry and Ginny already go?" she asked. He nodded. "Don't be mad at him or her." He looked at her. Was she talking about what he though she was talking about? Yes, she was.  
  
"Listen, I don't really want to talk about it, okay." he said annoyed.  
  
"Fair enough, just promise me you won't be mad at them."  
  
"I'll try, but I'll promise you nothing," Ron said trying not to sound too annoyed. She nodded. They got down to the Great Hall, and got some food and sat down. "So, anyone ask you to the dance yet?" he asked nervously.  
  
"Yeah, but I've turned them down. I learned awhile ago that it tends to be more fun if you go with someone that your better friends with."  
  
"Oh, am I a good enough friend to go to the dance with?" he asked with a slight smile on his mouth. He was glad he could somewhat make a joke out of it, but was still hoping she would take him seriously.  
  
"Go to the dance with you? Oh, I guess so, I mean, I haven't had any better offers recently." She smiled at him in such a way that caused his heart to jump a bit, but got a smile back. "So, ready to go work on that paper?"  
  
"Do we really have to?" he asked whining. She stood up with out responding and went back to the Gryffindor common room. He grabbed a piece of bread, stuck it in his mouth, and followed after her. "Hope I didn't make her to mad," he said to himself. He came up to the common room and saw Hermione sitting on the couch. He went over to her, and asked, "What's the assignment over again?"  
  
She looked up at him "The generic topic is 'Major Goblin rebellions that Muggles Believe Were Wars Among Themselves.'"  
  
"Oh, so wars Muggles call the World Wars, and other such wars, huh?" She nodded. "Hmm, what about this 'Internet Revolution?' Is this 'Internet' having a revolution? And are goblins really behind it?"  
  
She looked at Ron and started cracking up. "No, that's something else entirely, don't worry about it." He looked at her and nodded all of a sudden feeling very foolish. "So, what war were you thinking about doing?"  
  
"I don't know, I'm sure I can find something though."  
  
"You mean you don't even have a topic yet?" she asked Ron  
  
"I've gotten enough papers done this way, I figure that it must work." She hit him on the head. "Ow! That hurt..."  
  
"Good, it was supposed to," She said as she leaned back over her books. "So, who do you see your sister going out with? I know you're her brother, so you must have some interest in it."  
  
"I don't see her going out with anyone for at least ten more years.... and she might not even start there." He knew where this was going. He knew it all to well that she would want to talk about this sometime."  
  
"So, are you not dating anyone for ten years, too" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"No, I didn't mean that, I just, I don't want too see her going out with someone for awhile, that's all." He looked down at the unopened book in front of him.  
  
"Afraid she is growing up too fast?" she asked him. His head raised and he looked at her. "You know, there are worse people for her to go out with. Just try to imagine her with Draco."  
  
His eyes widened in shock. "She wouldn't think of going out with him. At least, she better not. I guess there are worse people in the world, but this is Harry for crying out loud!"  
  
"Who said we were talking about Harry?" she asked as a question. "I was just asking in general, but have you picked him out in particular?"  
  
"I thought that was who you were talking about. I've seen those two together, I doubt that she would think of going out with someone else anyway. Not that I could stop her, once she has her mind on something like this, the only person that will stop her is the other person, and sometimes, even they can't stop her. If you weren't talking about Harry, who were you talking about?"  
  
"Harry, I just wanted to find out why you had decided on him." she smiled at him. He tried to crack a smile back.  
  
She leaned back over her books, apparently satisfied with the conversation they just had. He watched her read some of the books she had set out and slowly moved his hand over to her, put it on her back and started rubbing her back. Her heart jumped a bit when he touched her back and then calmed down, and she started to enjoy the rub he was giving her. He watched her smile come across her face, and knew he was doing a good thing, so he kept on doing it.  
  
"You know, if you keep at it, I won't get any work done," she smiled at him.  
  
"Is that a bad thing?" he asked with a grin.  
  
"It would be, because then I would get mad at you, because I wouldn't have enough time to write a good paper, and it would get a bad grade," she replied as serious of a face as she could muster, but a small crack of a smile still got through.  
  
He smiled at her, but removed his hands and leaned over his books to get to work.  
  
Harry and Ginny walked in awhile later, and headed over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting. Ginny gave Hermione a weak kind of smile and said she was going up to her room so she could get some work done. Hermione watched her leave, got up, asked them to pardon her, and left after Ginny. Harry watched them leave and then sat down next to Ron. "Get much studying done?" he asked with a smile on his face.  
  
"Enough. Did you have fun?" he asked while trying to keep his attitude as neutral as possible.  
"I guess, we didn't do a lot, but it was okay." He looked ahead towards the fire. "I don't know how much fun she had though." He looked to where she had run up to her room.  
  
Hermione came back down with a puzzled look on her face. She walked over to where they were sitting, looked at Harry, and asked, "What did you do to her?"   
  
Ron gave Harry a threatening look. "I didn't do anything! Really!"  
  
Hermione thought for a moment, and then a thought came to her. "Maybe that's the problem."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Harry, you had a day to hang out with Ginny, did you guys do anything remotely romantic?"  
  
Harry studied Hermione's face to see what she was talking about, while keeping Ron in his eyesight as well. "No, we didn't, we just did stuff, nothing romantic."  
  
"And why didn't you?" Hermione asked getting mad at him.  
  
"I didn't know I was supposed to!" Harry wasn't sure what was going on. He was sure Ron would bite his head off if he had even let him know he had thought about Ginny like that, and yet, he sat there listening almost acting like he agreed with Hermione.  
  
"We gave you two a full day to do something, and you blow it off? Seriously Harry, I would have thought you were more observant then that," Ron joked with him.  
  
"I.... I don't even know if she loves me. Sure, she has that crush, which died down quite awhile ago, so I'm not even sure if she still has that. And, even if she does love me, I'm not sure if I can love her back, at least, maybe not yet." He looked down at the ground as he said this.  
  
"How many people adore you for being who you are? Do you feel the same towards them as you do her?" Hermione asked him. "Do they act the same way?" His eyes moved around on the ground not daring to look up. "Try, Harry, ask her to the dance coming up, see how it ends up." He nodded after awhile, got up and went up to his room to think.  
  
"You think we are doing the right thing?" Ron asked Hermione.  
  
"I think we are, don't you?"  
  
"I guess so, though there are a few things I should warn Harry about."  
  
"Oh yeah? What dirty little secret does you little sister have?" Hermione joked.  
"Well, she has a thing with," he trailed off. "I wonder if," he trailed off again. "I'm sure it is, who else would want them?" Hermione looked at Ron strangely.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I think I might have figured something out. Every morning for awhile, I've woken up without any socks and I think Ginny took them," Ron said as if that explained everything.  
  
"Why do you think Ginny took them?"  
  
"I just do. I think I'll catch her tonight."  
  
"Catch who?" Ginny asked as she came down, eyes slightly red from crying.  
  
"Oh, um, a teacher, I have a question about homework," Ron got out after awhile.  
  
"You? Have a question about homework? What, has Hermione changed you that much so soon?" she asked with a smile that widened as she saw Hermione blush.  
  
"Yeah, it's amazing how someone you love can change you," he smiled to no one in particular. This made Hermione blush even more, and Ginny feel uncomfortable. "So, anyone ask you to the dance yet Gin?" She shook her head no. "Oh, well, I'm sure you won't have to wait too long before you find someone to ask you."  
  
"That's not the problem, it's just," she trailed off not wanting to say too much.  
  
"You're waiting for someone special to ask you, right? I had the same problem, but after awhile, they start to think and get around to it, trust me," Hermione replied sagely.  
  
"Now wait just a moment, do you have any idea how hard it is to ask a girl you like to one of those? Even if it is just for fun, it's not the easiest thing in the world."  
  
"Yeah, but what's that hard if you're sure they will say yes?"  
  
"There is always a chance she will say no. It's just something guys have to deal with I guess."  
  
"Is that right?" Ginny asked thinking. "Well, what kind of hints would tell the guy you want to go to the dance with him?"  
  
"Say yes when he asks you is probably going to be the best, and at the same time, most annoying way of doing it, but that's the best help I can give you," Ron replied.  
  
"Oh, and should I ask him if he doesn't asks me until the day before?" Ginny asked.  
  
"He better not take that long," Hermione replied. Ginny looked at her wondering what that could mean.  
  
"I think I'm going to go up to bed a bit early tonight. See you tomorrow," Ron said as he stood up and headed towards his room.  
  
"He's going up really early," Ginny commented. Hermione nodded and watched him go up the stairs.  
  
"Harry, I need to talk to you," Ron said after he came through the door of the dormitory.  
  
"About what?" Harry asked hoping that it wasn't about Ginny.  
  
"Look, I have a feeling someone keeps on coming up here at night taking our socks, and I think I know who it is, but I want to make sure and catch her in the act."  
  
"Taking our socks? My socks have been just fine."  
  
"Yeah, you also have that spell on your stuff to protect them."  
  
"Oh, right. So, what do you need to talk to me about?"  
  
"Well, I have a feeling you will be able to help solve things. I don't think it will end if I just catch her."  
  
"Um, okay. What do I need to do?"  
  
"Just be awake when she comes. It will probably be about midnight, though I'm not sure."  
  
"Okay, and if she takes all night to come here? Or what if this she doesn't even come tonight?"  
  
"If I know her, she will be here early enough, but late enough to be sure most people would be asleep."  
  
"You seem very sure of who it is, how do you know who it is?"  
  
"Call it a hunch, and even if it isn't her, we will at least catch them and get them to stop."  
  
"Okay, I'll try to stay awake," Harry said as he lay down on his bed and closed the curtain.  
  
Ron nodded and sat down to wait for Ginny.  
  
It was about 1 in the morning when he heard a step outside. It took awhile before he realized what he was hearing and pulled himself out of his semi-dream. He tried to take a peek through his curtain, and saw who he thought it was.  
  
Ginny was walking over towards Harry's chest, watching all around her for any movements. She continued over, and bent down and tried to open it, but was driven to go to Ron's chest instead. She walked over to his chest, bent down, got the last few socks he had been able to find in the previous day. She walked back over to Harry's chest; bent down again, but then got drawn over to Dean's chest and took his socks. She kept at this, not paying much attention to the door.  
  
Ron sneaked out of his bed, and stood in front of the door. After she had taken everyone's socks but Harry's, she got frustrated enough, and started towards the door. She bumped into Ron without looking who was there.  
  
"Now, what would my younger sister be doing in an all guys room, with arm loads of socks?"  
  
Harry walked over to behind her, and asked "Yes, I'm curious as to why I had to give the guys in my room socks every morning."  
  
"I.... I..." she stuttered.  
  
"I was hoping you were done with this little," Ron paused, "habit quite awhile ago. Now I see you not only taking socks from family, but from others?"  
  
Ginny stood afraid of what will happen, and what Harry would think. She wasn't sure what to say or what to do.  
  
"You were trying to take my socks, weren't you?" Harry asked. Her eyes swiveled as far around as she could and she turned her head slightly to look at Harry. "I watched you come up here and take the socks. You couldn't get in because of that spell I put on it." He smiled at her reaction. "Tell you what, I'll let you borrow a couple of socks a day, but you have to return them afterwards." She turned all the way around, her eyes shining with happiness at the decision. "Of course, I'll have to figure out a spell to make them return after a day, just to make sure I don't lose all of them." Her face fell a bit on that part of the verdict. "But, you have to do something for me if you want me to follow through with this."  
  
"Oh? What is that?" she asked worried he would ask her to do something weird as well.  
  
"I want you to go to the dance with me," Harry gulped out.  
  
Ginny blinked when she heard this. It was like a dream come true. "Yeah, I think I will accept those terms," she smiled at him.  
  
"Oh, and one more thing Ginny," Ron stated. "You need to bring our socks back."  
  
"Oh, your socks. I'll have to see about that. I will try to bring them back later tonight."  
  
"Okay, be sure you do." Ron sidestepped from in front of the door to let her through. She ran from the room fairly quickly.  
  
"You think she won't take any one else's socks anymore?"  
  
"I'm not sure, I can only hope so." Ron looked very serious.  
  
"Well, I'm going to bed. If you guys still need socks in the morning, wake me up. Just don't kick me."  
  
"Kick you?" Ron trailed off as he watched Harry go to bed. "Okay, don't kick, I'll try to remember," Ron said as he went to bed. 


End file.
